Police check new lead on escaped prisonersFRIENDSHIP, N.Y. — The search for two killers landed Saturday in New York’s southern tier near the Pennsylvania border, about 350 miles from the prison where they escaped two weeks ago. New York State Police spokesman Beau Duffy said officers were investigating a possible sighting of the prisoners near the Allegany County hamlet of Friendship. He gave no other details. David Sweat and Richard Matt escaped June 6 from the Clinton Correctional F...

Church shooting site to re-open; FBI reviews manifestoCHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — A small group of parishioners was allowed inside the bullet-scarred Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal church on Saturday, getting a firsthand glimpse of the room where nine people from their congregation were slain. Meanwhile, the FBI said it was investigating a manifesto purportedly written by the suspected gunman, 21-year-old Dylann Roof. The website linked to Roof contained photos of him holding a burning American ...

Obama Asia policy faces toughest test on tradeWASHINGTON (AP) — Critics have long predicted that President Barack Obama's policy to shift America's focus toward Asia is doomed. The legislative battle over his trade agenda could prove the acid test. Legislation to smooth the way for a free-trade pact with 11 other Asia-Pacific nations hit a wall in Congress last week, but was given new life Thursday as the House took a first step to reverse the setback as soon as the July 4 national holida...

Medicare: House calls can help frail seniors and cut costs WASHINGTON (AP) — An X-ray in the living room. A rapid blood test. A peek into pill bottles and refrigerators. The humble house call can accomplish a lot — and now research suggests that tailoring it to some of Medicare's frailest patients can improve their care while cutting costs. Medicare announced Thursday that it saved more than $25 million in the first year of a three-year study to determine the value of home-based primary care for frail...

White man arrested in killing of 9 in historic black church CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — A white man was arrested Thursday in the slayings of nine people, including the pastor, at a prayer meeting inside a historic black church in downtown Charleston. Dylann Storm Roof, 21, stayed for nearly an hour inside the church Wednesday night before shooting six females and three males at a prayer meeting, Police Chief Greg Mullen said. Roof put up no resistance after a citizen tip led police to his car Thursday morn...

Beachgoers lose limbs in shallow-water shark attacksOAK ISLAND, N.C. — Beachgoers cautiously returned to the ocean Monday after two young people lost limbs in separate, life-threatening shark attacks in the same town in North Carolina. A 12-year-old girl lost her left arm below the elbow and suffered a leg injury Sunday afternoon; then about an hour and 20 minutes later and 2 miles away, a shark bit off the left arm above the elbow of a 16-year-old boy. Both had been swimming about 20 yards off...

Prison worker arrested, accused of aiding 2 NY escapeesDANNEMORA, N.Y. (AP) — A worker at an upstate New York maximum-security prison has been arrested on charges she helped two convicted killers escape, state police said Friday. Fifty-one-year-old Joyce Mitchell was arrested and will be arraigned on the felony charge of first-degree promoting prison contraband and misdemeanor count of fourth-degree criminal facilitation, authorities said. Mitchell is accused of befriending inmates David Sweat and...

All federal employees', retired and former, personnel information allegedly hackedWASHINGTON (AP) — A major union says the cyber theft of employee information is more damaging than it first appeared, asserting that hackers stole personnel data and Social Security numbers for 4 million current and former federal workers. The Obama administration had acknowledged that up to 4 million current and former employees whose information resides in the Office of Personnel Management server are affected by the December cyber breach, b...

Drink mas? Taco Bell to serve alcohol at Chicago locationNEW YORK (AP) — Taco Bell says it will serve beer, wine and “mixed alcohol freezes” at a new location set to open in Chicago this summer. The chain, owned by Yum Brands Inc., says the restaurant will have a new design it’s testing in urban markets. It says the layout has already been launched in South Korea, Japan and the United Kingdom. A rendering of the design shows a row of lime-green stools along a bar that peers into an open kitchen, fla...

Sister of Josh Duggar says he victimized herNEW YORK — Reality TV star Jessa Duggar told Fox News Channel on Wednesday that she was a victim of her older brother Josh Duggar, who fondled five girls when he was a teenager. Jessa Duggar, featured like her brother in the family’s TLC series, “19 Kids and Counting,” told Fox in an interview conducted in Arkansas on Wednesday that she wanted to defend him. She said allegations he’s a child molester or pedophile are “so overboard and a lie,” ...

China suspected in massive breach of federal personnel dataWASHINGTON (AP) — China-based hackers are suspected of breaking into the computer networks of the U.S. government personnel office and stealing identifying information of at least 4 million federal workers, American officials said Thursday. The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that data from the Office of Personnel Management and the Interior Department had been compromised. "The FBI is conducting an investigation to identif...

Flooded rivers don't faze some Houston-area residentsROSENBERG, Texas (AP) — The seemingly ceaseless rain has ended in North Texas and Oklahoma, but residents in the greater Houston area warily eyed the swollen Brazos River and the skies, which threatened to drop up to 5 additional inches of rain late Saturday afternoon and evening. At least 31 people have been killed in storms that began in Texas and Oklahoma over Memorial Day weekend. Twenty-seven of the deaths have been in Texas alone, and 11...

Tracy Morgan settles suit with Wal-Mart over fatal crashNEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Actor-comedian Tracy Morgan has settled his lawsuit against Wal-Mart over a highway crash that killed one man and left Morgan and two friends seriously injured. A filing in federal court in Newark on Wednesday refers to a confidential settlement reached by the two sides. Morgan's lawyer didn't immediately respond to a message seeking comment Wednesday. Bentonville-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc. called it an "amicable settlement...

10 Things to Know for Today Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today: 1. SWISS OPEN CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS IN 2018, '22 WORLD CUP VOTES The move throws FIFA deeper into crisis only hours after seven soccer officials were arrested and 14 indicted in a separate U.S. corruption probe. 2. FLOODWATERS DEEPEN IN HOUSTON AFTER CITY GETS MORE RAIN The search goes on for about a dozen people, including a group that disap...

IRS says thieves stole tax info from 100,000WASHINGTON (AP) — Sophisticated criminals used an online service run by the IRS to access personal tax information from more than 100,000 taxpayers, part of an elaborate scheme to steal identities and claim fraudulent tax refunds, the IRS said Tuesday. The thieves accessed a system called "Get Transcript," where taxpayers can get tax returns and other filings from previous years. In order to access the information, the thieves cleared a securi...

Missouri suspect in killing of woman, teen son is deadKNOB NOSTER, Mo. (AP) — A man accused of holding his former girlfriend captive in a crate at their home in western Missouri then fatally shooting her and her teenage son, was shot and killed Saturday, authorities said. Law enforcement officers killed James Barton Horn Jr., 47, near Knob Noster, Missouri, Henry County Sheriff Kent Oberkrom said. Authorities have been searching for Horn since late April when he was charged in the kidnapping of 4...

Wal-Mart 1Q profit falls on pay raisesNEW YORK (AP) — Wal-Mart Stores Inc. reported a 7 percent drop in first-quarter profit as the strong dollar and some efforts to improve its business hurt its bottom line. The company said Tuesday that higher worker wages and increased spending on its online operations were among the reasons its results missed Wall Street estimates. On the news, investors sent the company's shares down more 4 percent. Greg Foran, who had been president and CEO ...

Police: 9 dead in Texas shooting involving rival biker gangsWACO, Texas (AP) â A shooting involving rival biker gangs at a Central Texas restaurant has left nine people dead and some others injured. Waco police Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton says eight people died at the scene of the shooting at Twin Peaks restaurant about noon Sunday and another person died at a hospital. Swanton says the fight began with punches and then escalated to knives and firearms. It's not immediately clear if bystanders are among th...

Boston Marathon bomber sentenced to deathBOSTON (AP) — A jury sentenced Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to death Friday for the Boston Marathon bombing, sweeping aside pleas that he was just a "kid" who fell under the influence of his fanatical older brother. Tsarnaev, 21, stood with his hands folded upon learning his fate, decided after 14 hours of deliberations over three days in the nation's most closely watched terrorism trial since the Oklahoma City bombing case two decades ago. The decision ...

'King of the Blues' blues legend B.B. King dead at age 89LAS VEGAS (AP) — B.B. King, whose scorching guitar licks and heartfelt vocals made him the idol of generations of musicians and fans while earning him the nickname King of the Blues, died late Thursday at home in Las Vegas. He was 89. His attorney, Brent Bryson, told The Associated Press that King died peacefully in his sleep at 9:40 p.m. PDT. He said funeral arrangements were underway. Clark County Coroner John Fudenberg confirmed the death. ...